


Derelict

by shadesofbravery



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, Panic Attacks, Peter has a panic attack, and Tony knows what that's like
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 13:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11852964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadesofbravery/pseuds/shadesofbravery
Summary: Tony Stark knows a thing or two about crawling out of the rubble of entire buildings.Or Peter begged for help underneath that building and there's no way it wasn't absolutely traumatic for him.





	Derelict

Aunt May’s got rules, now that she knows. Peter does his best to follow them because he loves her and because he knows that when it came down to it, she could put a stop to Spider-Man, just by asking. And she did ask. At first. The rules came after tears and pleading and Peter proclaiming that he has to be Spider-Man because he _is_ Spider-Man, if he doesn’t help when he can, where he can, then people might die, somebody’s father or mother or _uncle_ -

May doesn’t let that one go, and when Peter explains what he could have done, whom he could have saved and didn’t, she gathers him in her arms and tells him so fiercely that he might never believe otherwise again, that it’s not his fault. May thinks it’s about guilt and it is and it isn’t. Ben wouldn’t want this she says, wouldn’t want Peter to put himself at risk, it’s not not his responsibility and he’s just a kid! Kids shouldn’t have to save the world. Peter agrees, but sometimes they _can_ and that makes the difference.

She sees the set in his jaw and the look in his eyes and thinks this is one battle that Spider-Man won’t lose. If this is happening though, she swears that Peter is going to be as smart and as safe as he can be.

So, the rules. They’re not all that bad: home by twelve on school nights, homework always done first, _really_ Peter, he takes a day off once a week, and for God’s sake  if he’s planning to leave the state can’t he just tell her first? All in all, not so hard to follow. Worth it even, if it makes May happy, makes her worry less. And after everything, some rules and boundaries make sense.

Which is why, he’s at Ned’s on a Tuesday evening; Tuesday, because if something bad is going to happen it’s least likely to happen on a Tuesday, right, no one does anything on a _Tuesday_ ; Ned’s because, well, where else would he be on his day off?

They play Star Wars Battlefront and eat junk food and Ned shows him this fan theory he’s found about Rey’s parentage and Peter feels _normal_. Which is nice, because he knows he’s not and never will be again but it’s still good to have that feeling, to know that he’s still himself.

Ned’s got bunkbeds, and when they finally head to bed he makes Peter take the top; it’s only fair since Peter doesn’t even have to use the ladder now. Peter laughs and doesn’t argue and doesn’t use the ladder.

 

Peter isn’t laughing when he wakes up, images of wings and falling and explosions and buildings and he tries to sit up but he can’t, there’s something stopping him, he can’t move and- Ned shifts somewhere below him and he remembers where he is. At Ned’s, in his room, in the top bunk. The top bunk which is close to the slanted ceiling of Ned’s room, the ceiling he has his hands on, pushing away, leaving little dents in the plaster. The ceiling that is not the wall of a building, pressing down on him.

He know’s he won’t go back to sleep, not like this. And he won’t wake Ned up, not for this, even if Ned wouldn’t be mad, would even be glad to wake up and help him. But Peter doesn’t know what this _is._ But he knows what’s been helping and that’s being somewhere open, somewhere safe.

He uses the ladder on the way down, slips on his suit and is out the window, Ned softly snoring behind him, none the wiser. 

It’s a quiet night. Peter can’t help but wish it wasn’t true. He’d take anything to get his mind off of things. So he goes looking. He’s got nowhere particular in mind, but when he ends up in the warehouse district it only makes sense. Something shady’s always going down in warehouses. He would know.

But nothing is happening there either. He stands and listens atop a warehouse. There’s the breeze and his shallow breathing and metal shifting behind him. _Finally_ something! He runs across the roof towards the noise- is it kids poking around, leaving their tags on the walls, is it some kind of illegal operation, is it- 

This time metal shifts below him, and Peter falls. A web goes out and Peter hits the ground, hard enough to knock the wind out of him, a piece of the warehouse roof tumbling after him, landing flat on his body.

Peter is in a different warehouse now, in two places at once. The feeling of helplessness is the same, even if the circumstances are not. He can sense rubble and dust in the air and oh god, the pressure, on his legs, his back, his chest, he can’t breathe, can’t move, the pain- he tastes blood and dirt and and salt from the tears on his face.

He’s back in that warehouse, under that warehouse, crushing weight on top of him. His voice cracks when he asks for help. Karen answers but sounds so far away, help is on the way.

The minutes stretch, but they are just minutes. And soon Iron Man is lifting the piece of the warehouse roof off him like it’s nothing. Peter sits up and stares and knows that he could have lifted it like it was nothing too. But it wasn’t nothing. It was the warehouse roof and the fear coursing through his veins and the tightness of his chest and an entire building all at the same time.

 

Amidst Peter’s shaky I’m fines and I’m not hurts, Tony has Karen run a full vitals scan. He takes in Peter’s ragged breathing, his dazed, panicky look and recognizes the symptoms before Karen delivers the verdict.

It’s something about the warehouse, Tony decides, from the way he watches the kid look around like the entire thing is gonna come crashing down. He hoists him up and considers flying him out until Peter squawks, please, he can walk on his own, in a way that leaves no room for argument.

They walk out of the warehouse district together, through the rows of buildings, where Happy is miraculously waiting for them at the entrance with the car.

Tony worms it out of him, the business with the warehouse. He knew it collapsed, didn’t know the whole damn thing fell down _on_ the kid.

He teaches Peter some breathing techniques he knows, some of the things that help Tony feel _grounded_ and they drive around until Peter is less panicky, less shaky, altogether more _Peter._

Tony brings him back to May’s just as morning light starts to break through, walks him up the the apartment, walks him in. May is awake and relived and livid at the same time. She scoops Peter up into her arms and Tony half expects him to flinch away but he doesn’t.

Kid’s handling it better than he thought he would, better than he did and as he watches May comfort him, he very abruptly feels like he does not belong.He leaves unnoticed, leaves May with Peter, and Peter with May and 20 missed calls from Ned. Leaves Peter safe and sound. Leaves with a thought to check Peter’s report on everything that happened with the Vulture, and a thought to get him the number of the guy who helped him work through his own panic attacks.

Peter watches him leave and thinks about the techniques he taught him and very much decides he isn’t going to let it go.

**Author's Note:**

> Had a panic attack the other day, and this is what happened. 
> 
> Tony and Peter actually talk in the next chapter, go figure. Lot less commas too, whoops. This chapter was meant to focus more on the emotions :') 
> 
> Drop a review and let me know what you think?


End file.
